Crystal Palace crashed out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening as they suffered a penalty shootout defeat against Premier League high-fliers Newcastle United.
Both sides rang the changes at St James’ Park, with Patrick Vieira making six from the side that started against West Ham last weekend, but ultimately it was his side that lost on the lottery of penalties, with Nick Pope hugely impressive for the hosts.
One man who was very disappointing for the Eagles was striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who started up front in the absence of the injured Odsonne Edouard and star man Wilfried Zaha.
As per SofaScore, the Frenchman would earn a shocking 6.4/10 rating for his display at St James’ Park, which was joint with Tyrick Mitchell as the worst of any Palace player to start the game.
During the 90 minutes, Mateta struggled to have any real impact on the game, missing a vital chance in the first half that was kept out by Nick Pope. During the clash, he registered just 34 touches and completed only eight passes, both of which were fewer than Sam Johnstone in the Palace goal.
Despite his lack of involvement, the 25-year-old also managed to lose possession on 14 occasions, as he was consistently outfought by the Newcastle defenders, winning just 35% of his duels at St James’ Park.
After failing to provide any real out ball or goal threat in the 90 minutes, the least Mateta could have done was find the net with his penalty in the shootout, but even that was saved by Nick Pope in what was described as an “awful” spot kick by Matt Woosnam.
Vieira will be thankful that this weekend’s game against Nottingham Forest will be their last without Odsonne Edouard ahead of the World Cup, as it seems likely that Zaha will be asked to deputise up front once again after a Mateta display that lacked a cutting edge.
The French striker has certainly dropped down the pecking order at Selhurst Park this season and will have done himself very few favours with Vieira after a troubled performance against the Toon on Wednesday.
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